Tomb Raider developer diary sees many a soft body improperly treated

We’re less than a month away till the release of Crystal Dynamics’ reboot of the Tomb Raider franchise. Expect a grittier Lara, one with more rugged arms, and a penchant for shooting people in the vulnerables with a shotgun. The latest video runs through two of the new features for a Tomb Raider game: fast travel and gear gating. These aren’t new ideas though they are the first time we’ve seen them at play in a Tomb Raider game.

See them at work in the ceveloper diary below.

I like how the narrator seems to suggest they’ve come up with the idea of fast travel. What a novel idea, Mr Crystal Dynamics. Have a cookie.

I’m cautiously optimistic for Tomb Raider. Originally, and this was largely based off the footage shown at last year’s E3, Tomb Raider looked like it was just going to be a quicktime event driven, heavily scripted action game akin to the Uncharted games over on the Sony-box. That’s very much a part of the game’s make up, as Steve found. But while I was researching the Everything We Know pieceI came across a fair bit to suggest there will be more to the game, that once you’ve passed through the game’s story sections (the scripted bits) you’ll be returning to the areas you’ve cleared and doing a good deal of the old-fashioned tomb raiding the series is known for – environmental puzzles, aggressive wildlife, and mystical enemies included.

I also like the Metroid-style gear gating that is being worked into the game. The need to upgrade kit to open up areas that you’ve already unlocked, causing you to find new things in old areas many times over.

We won’t know more till we’ve had more hands-on time with the game but, as I said, I’m cautiously optimistic for its release next month on the 5 March.